A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Steady wisdom begins when the senses stop ruling your attention.”
Therefore, O mighty-armed one, the wisdom of one whose senses are fully restrained from sense-objects is steady.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallytherefore · whose · O mighty-armed one · restrained · in every way · the senses · from sense-objects · of that one · wisdom · is established
A person who fully controls the senses and keeps them away from objects of desire develops steady understanding.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 68 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
You open your phone to check one message and lose twenty minutes. The problem is not the message — it's the senses running outward before your mind can choose.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from impulse control in the moment to a stable pattern of restraint.
What this verse means
A person who fully controls the senses and keeps them away from objects of desire develops steady understanding.
Context & commentary
On Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen between duty and grief. Krishna keeps building the ladder of inner mastery: first the senses must no longer drag the mind outward. Only then can clear judgment stand firm.
Why this verse still matters
You open your phone to check one message and lose twenty minutes. The problem is not the message — it's the senses running outward before your mind can choose.
“You feel less pulled around when attention stops chasing every temptation.”
Explore related themes: self mastery (16 verses), indriya nigraha (14 verses)